Work Text:
Tiny businesses
The witch screams, “BALUBADUR ENAIFULDAR.” It will be the last words she will ever utter, Dean shoots her in the back of her head, with witch killing bullets, while Cas drives his Angel blade through her heart. Sam, Castiel and Dean are on a hunt, this witch in particular was a very nasty one. Her coven wide spread, she was the last of this revolting group that had stolen at least five children that they knew of. Children from single parents, all struggling in life to make ends meet. The witch worked as a childcare worker, she could easily pick out the most desperate parent, without a safety net, and offer them help.
At least three of the children got killed as an offer, it struck Dean the most, nearly a single parent raising Sammy by himself.
At the moment of the kill the familiar sounds of the whoosh, wings flapping makes Cas disappear. Dean swears, why on earth did Cas do that, he always makes sure neither of them are hurt. Sam comes running round the corner, guts and blood on his shirt, his gun still drawn, “Oh great, you and Cas got the last one.” Sam turns around to oversee the room and tucks his gun in the waistband of his jeans. Dean does the same, the moment he steps aside he feels something on his ankle, a sharp short pain and he looks down, thinking he must have brushed against something. Despite the room being filled with rubble and filth he doesn’t see something that could have pricked him, there it is again. He sees something moving up his pantleg.
Oh sweet Jesus, it’s crawling up his leg. He dances around, stamping, lifting his leg comically. That doesn’t work, whatever it is, it’s still moving up and has reached his knee. Sam sees and hears him dancing, he must shout to get his voice raised above the squeals from his brother, “DEAN, what are you doing?” “Get it out, get it out,” Dean screams. They have been fighting all the dangers in the world for years and he has never squealed like this. “Where”, Sam shouts back coming closer. “Shoot or stab it, it’s at my inside knee,” Dean is standing more or less in one place now, with his hands around his knee, preventing whatever it is to crawl up even further. Sam sees movement, takes out his knife, the giant man has to bend down circling his brother. The thing must have a sixth sense, because every time Sam tries to carefully stab it, the tiny creature moves to the other side of Dean’s leg, like a squirrel would do, rounding a three, when chased by a cat. After five minutes they still got nowhere fast, Sam says, “You’ll have to take your pants off.”
Dean looks at his sibling like he told him to walk on water, “Are you crazy, I’m not taking my pants off.” Sam looks him straight in the eye, grins, “Well in that case good luck with that thing in your pants then.” The mouse or rat of whatever it is doesn’t hurt him at the moment, on the contrary, it almost feels like it is stroking his calve with it’s tiny paw. Still bend over to keep his pantleg closed, Dean has to make a decision, fucking hell. “Fine, untie my laces, I can’t let go, take my shoes off.” Sam bends down again and pulls the laces and removes Dean’s shoes one by one. “You are not touching my button or zipper, replace my hands with yours.” Sam does what he is told and Dean opens his belt, button and zipper, “On the count of three I’ll pull my jeans down and you pull my leg out of it, throw the jeans in the corner.” Dean sits down on the old sofa with his jeans on his thighs, he takes the other jeans leg in his own hand below his knee and counts, “One, two.” There goes his blue jeans flying through the air, they never wait to three. Dean checks out his leg for bites or wounds, just a few small pinpricks, his hands touch down to his ankle, near is sock is something in a familiar color tan beige. He picks it up and lifts it up to eyesight. Very small arms hug his thumb, when Dean looks closer he knows that little creature very well, “Cas?” Dumbstruck Dean looks at his hand, there he is, Cas, sitting in the middle of his hand, tiny, with an even tinier Angel blade in his hands.
In the meantime Sam is checking out his jeans. Stomping on it with his giant feet and when he is satisfied there is nothing is living in there any more, he picks it up and turns it inside out, nothing, “Dean, it’s empty, do you want your jeans back?” Preoccupied with Cas, Dean pays no attention to his brother, still ogling Cas, who apparently wants to talk to him. He puts Cas in his collar near his ear, Tiny Cas screams his little lungs out, “Don’t tell Sam.” Dean has no idea why Cas doesn’t want Sam to know, but for now he goes along with it and says, “I won’t.” TC’s little body blows back like a hurricane has hit him, and he is covering his ears. Sam thinks the answer is for him and he thoughtlessly throws the pants over his shoulder into a puddle of water.
“Jerk, why did you do that?” Dean shouts running towards his favorite pair of jeans, pulling the soaking wet fabric out of the water. Sam is baffled, “You just told me you didn’t want it anymore, Bitch.” Dean wrings out the excess water and starts to put his jeans back on, it’s horrible and the drenched trouser pipes stick to his legs. For the second time that night Dean is dancing, but this time from the cold, “Asshole, you could have thrown them anywhere.” There is a sharp prick under his collar and just about as he is going to smack his neck, he remembers Cas. TC jells in his ear, “Please don’t shout again, you’ll blow my eardrums.” This time Dean whispers sorry and bends over to put his shoes back on. Sam in the meantime has cleaned their weapons, pulled the dead bodies to one side of the room, “You want to burn them?” TC crawls to the back of his collar and Dean answers soft, “Yes, that is what we usually do, but leave the last witch, I need to check her, uhm Sammy, do you know what BALUBADUR ENAIFULDAR means?” The three of them got real good at remembering things that witches say, because of the spells and counterspells they need to search, Sam looks up, “No why?” Dean checks her clothes, pockets and even the inside of her shoes, nothing, no hexbag, no strange paper, sigil or whatever, he mutters under his breath, “I’m sorry Cas, I can’t find anything.”
After they burned all the bodies in the backyard, they are sitting in the Impala, going back to the motel for the night, stopping there first so Dean can get a hot shower and dry clothes before they go to eat something in a nearby diner. In their motel room Sam is on his laptop searching BALUBADUR ENAIFULDAR because his brother is adamant they need to know what it means, while Dean is in the bathroom. TC is on the top shelf sitting near the toothbrush holder, while Dean is thoughtlessly undressing to get his well deserved hot shower. Clean, warm and dressed he talks to Cas, whispers, “What do we do, what do you need, how do we reverse the spell?” TC somehow doesn’t have to scream anymore for Dean to hear, “I don’t know, the moment I stabbed her with my Angel blade she touched my wrist and cursed me, all I know is that I’m still an Angel, I do have my grace, but I’m tiny.” “Why won’t you let me tell or show Sam?” Dean asks puzzled.
“I don’t want to shrink any further, I just know the more people see me like this, the more I shrink,” suddenly Cas sounds a bit worried, “Dean I think I’m cold and hungry.” Dean has no clue how Cas knows this, but he is sure it will be the truth, “Cas, can’t you mojo yourself warm and dry?” “No, I think I’m too small, please dry my clothes and I need a warm bath.” Dean laughs, he has got a live, breathing, manlike, talking doll. “Okay, I’ll blow-dry your clothes and fill the toothbrush cup with warm water.” TC undresses shivering, while Dean runs the tap until the water is warm and he fills the cup. TC is as small as his little pinky, but Dean thought he was even smaller an hour ago. TC’s clothes are on the shelve, he picks them up and starts the blow-dryer, making the tiny suit, briefs, undershirt and trench coat nice and toasty, with a flick of his wrist the briefs blow away, on his hands and knees he tries to find them again.
The bathroom door opens, Sam is there with his gun in his hand, “Who is in here with you, I
heard you talking and what are you doing on your hands and knees?” Dean keeps searching, hating that TC would have to go commando if he doesn’t find his briefs. “I’m alone, I aint talking to no-one and I dropped my contact lens.” Sam looks angered, “Fine, don’t tell me, where is Cas, he normally stays until after dinner.” Finally Dean finds the tiny pair of underwear, picking it up between his thumb and finger without Sam noticing, “Cas as we know him isn’t here.” Sam deadpans, “You think?” and he leaves the bathroom, closing the door. TC is jumping up and down in the cup, he clearly wants out. Dean tears off a small piece of a towel and hands it to Cas so he can dry himself. As soon as Cas is dressed again he seems warm and happy, lifting his arms so Dean can pick him up and put him is his shirt pocket.
In the diner Dean remembers Cas telling him he was hungry, as Steve, Cas used to eat, drink and urinate like a normal human, and he supposes TC is the same. When Sam is looking at his plate concentrating on eating the salade, he slips a morsel of his burger into his pocket, followed by a crumb of French fry and even a pea. They are sitting in the back of the diner, and as soon as Sam is going to the bathroom, Dean lets TC out, and sets him on the table. TC drinks Sam’s coke from Dean’s spoon and after he sets himself at the side of Deans plate, helping himself to a bite of Deans burger. Dean can’t help himself and takes a picture with his phone. When Sam comes back TC hides in Deans sleeve.
Back in the motel room both brothers try to find anything in the lore about witches curses and Dean even calls a few fellow hunters. After hours of no results, they turn in for the night. TC nestles himself in Deans neck under his ear, the question does he need to pee answered when Dean took him into the bathroom and the little Angel peed into the shower drain. That night for the first time in a very long stretch, Dean slept like a log. To Sam’s surprise he even had to wake his brother up, which hadn’t happened, well that never ever has happened. Sam kept looking at him funny the whole drive home and in the bunker. Dean retreated to his bedroom as soon as they were there, which earned him another questionable look from Sam. Dean locks his bedroom door, setting TC on his nightstand, “What do you need Cas, what can we do?” It’s fucking difficult reading the expressions on such a tiny face, but over all Cas doesn’t look to distressed Dean thinks, well it has always been difficult reading any expression on Cas’s face so not much of a difference there. “I still need to eat, drink, sleep and go to the bathroom because I’m sort of just a man, I’ve tried to mojo myself clean and that still doesn’t work either.
Together they have fun looking at websites to find TC furniture, table and chairs, a nice kingsized bed with nightstands and real working lights, a sofa, bath and more he needs. Dean even orders him some clothes, jeans, sweater, jackets. Of course there are no such small kitchen utensils for sale, but TC can use his Angel blade to shave and cut his food. Sam looks very suspicious when they go into town to collect the doll furniture at the post office. Sam asks him for the umpteenth time that week, “Are you sure you are alright Dean, you never sleep this much, and frankly it is starting to worry me that you don’t have bags under your eyes anymore and you look far to healthy.” “I’m fine Sam, just keep looking into that spell.”
It has been two weeks now since the witch cursed Cas, he has grown to the size of Deans index finger, but other than that nothing has changed. Sam is walking past Dean’s door when he hears arguing, it’s Castiel’s voice, “I’m an ‘adult’ Dean, I sleep wherever I want and that bed is too hard and I’m too cold there alone.” Sam smiles as he thinks Cas using air quotes at the word adult. He hears Dean answer, “Fine, but don’t complain if I roll on top of you in the middle of the night by accident.” Sam opens the door, glad Cas is back and Dean sounds his normal self, “Hi Cas..” Sam starts, but he stops talking as he only sees his brother standing in the room, the smallest of whooshing sounds audible, “were has he gone?” Sam thinks it’s very strange as Dean doesn’t look up to him, but down to the floor, like he has lost something, finally Dean looks up, puzzled, “I think he flew, I didn’t know he could do that.” “You didn’t know Cas can fly? Fucking hell Dean, you’ve known the man for twelve years, I’m worried more and more, I’m contacting Rowena and Crowley what they know.” Sam turns around and leaves Dean’s bedroom. Dean runs after him, “No Sam, no, please just wait until I ask.” Sam snarls, “One week Dean, I’ll wait one more week.” Dean’s door closes with a bang, Dean’s voice sounds stressed, “Cas, Cas, where are you, can you fly?” Dean sees movement in the corner of his eye on top of his wardrobe, it’s Cas, “Yes I got scared and thought about hiding and I did.” Dean smiles, a little bit of his worries taken away, Cas is at least is not helpless, he can mojo his way out of a situation when he really wants to. The next morning when they are shaving together in the bathroom Dean nicks himself with his razorblade, when he bends closer to the mirror TC puts his tiny hand on his face, a blue light shines and the wound closes itself immediately. Dean laughs and sort of high fives TC.
That is enough for Dean to let TC come on the next hunt, safe in his jacket pocket. The vampires they are hunting are with far more than anticipated and both Dean and Sam are captured and bound sitting on a chair. They managed to kill six of them and the leader is angry. He goes in for the bite in Dean’s neck, the vampire looks utterly surprised as something touches his neck, a blue light coming from Dean’s pocket and the leader drops dead. Sam was busy dealing with the girlfriend of the leader, he didn’t see anything. The remaining vamps flee, running for their lives, the woman knocks Sam unconscious before she leaves. Dean and TC are exuberant from joy, TC crawls out his Dean’s pocket, climbs down and cuts the ropes, Dean slashes Sam’s ropes as he regains consciousness. While Sam collects his weapons and cleans them, Dean puts TC back in his pocket.
During the months that follows the werewolves, vamps and other creatures are so scared of Dean, that his name alone is enough to make them go into hiding and stop whatever it is they are doing. Sam still hasn’t found out about TC, who is now as big as Dean’s hand. Rowena came by the bunker, wanting to know what is wrong with Dean, Cas doesn’t want anybody to know, he is getting stronger each day, but they haven’t found anything in the books to help him get back to full size. Secretly Dean hopes it will take a while, because he has his friend to talk to, his health is greatly improved and the hunts have never been more easy, even if they do get caught. Back in the bunker they enjoy movie nights and TC still sleeps under Dean’s ear in his neck and as a result of an Angel touching him during the night Dean has the best nights rest ever. Sam has ‘accidently’ spilled holy water in his face, salt on his hand, cut him with a silver knife and touched him with lead, iron and a piece of cloth from a holy man. “I know there is something going on with you Dean and where the hell is Cas, I hear you two talking al the time, but he is always gone when I open the door, does he hate me now or something.” “Sam I am not possessed, there is nothing wrong and Cas doesn’t hate you, you just can’t see him right now.” Nothing Dean says is a lie, TC is up in his room at the moment and when they are on a hunt he is still small enough to fit in his inside pocket or sleeve.
The next hunt there are three demons, Dean kills one of them, TC the other and the third one gets away only to get killed by Sam who was waiting outside the room. When they walk outside Crowley is waiting for them. “Hello Boys, what is going on with you, the word on the street is getting ridiculous, the body count you are piling up is enormous, spill before I think there is something wrong in the supernatural sense with you.” With a thunderous voice Cas shouts, “Leave Crowley, or I just might smite you and all your demons.” Crowley is not affected at all, if anything he seems intrigued, so he says to Dean, “So your Angel boyfriend is invisible, that comes in handy, but there must be something wrong with him, because he always was able to be invisible.” To TC he says, “Keep your panties out of a twist giraffe, I just wanted to know what was going on, no harm will come to your little Dean and his moose.” With a snap of his fingers Crowley vanishes. Sam is looking around, sees nothing, but then he turns to Dean, “So Cas is invisible, all this time and you didn’t say anything to me, jerk.” “Bitch please, TC is not invisible, he is just different, anyway he didn’t want you to know.” Dean snaps his mouth shut, he misspoke saying TC and not Cas, but Sam being furious, didn’t seem to notice.
Sam walks away angry, “Fine, don’t tell me,” he walks to the Impala, gets in and slams the door so loud that Dean flinches. TC whispers, “Not yet Dean not yet, please, I need to get a little bit stronger, bigger so I have more grace.” The drive back is impossible with the tension between them so thick, even TC’s Angel blade wouldn’t be able to cut it and as soon as they reach the bunker Sam goes to his room slamming every door that he goes through. Dean does the same, sighing deep as he enters his bedroom, taking his clothes off, getting in his bed under the duvet. Dean hates not telling his brother everything, he is stressed and worried, TC is absentmindedly stroking through Dean’s hair and he puts his face against Dean’s pulse point, the fight and the huge task of threatening Crowley made him shrink to pinky size again, hopelessly he knows he needs the warmth.
Normally this relaxes Dean but not now, so he says angry, “Dammit TC, how long do we keep this a secret for Sam, I hate this, I hate that you are so small and you can’t lie in my bed.” TC crawls on top of Dean’s pillow, “My apologies.” For the first night since Cas became TC he sleeps in his own little bed, shivering because somehow he can’t keep himself warm. A few hours later Dean wakes up because he can’t sleep, he misses the little Cas and he now insulted both his friend and his brother. He hears TC's teeth rattle as he is so cold, when he tries to pick up TC to put him back where he belongs, he feels a sting on his finger, TC has actually cut him with his Angel blade. Dean put his finger in his mouth sucking the droplet of blood off his finger. “Come on now TC, I’m sorry,” Dean starts to say, but he stops as TC is glowing blue in his bed, “It’s Castiel.”
The next day Sam and Dean go on a hunt, a vengeful spirit haunts a school and it is a bad one. Three days and nights TC stays behind in his own little room, on his own little sofa, sleeping in his own little bed. Dean forgot to put food out for him, he honestly thought he would be back within a day. The first day the fight made Dean bleed, Sam got concussed and they only managed to get back to their motel room with great difficulty. The second day Dean got another wound, both were to sluggish to fight. Sam thought Dean was hallucinating when he told him about having to go back for TC, forgetting to put food out for him.
Cas feels himself getting weaker and weaker, the tiny bit of grace he has in his body can go but two ways, either he can hear Dean pray for him and he might be able to get out of the bunker to save Dean if needed for one last time, or he can use his grace to keep a bit of warmth in his body and survive for as long as Sam and Dean are gone. Stressed out Cas thinks without the warmth of a human body he keeps shrinking, as an Angel technically he can’t die without being killed by an Angel blade, but he could shrink until he has become an atom, he still would not die, but he would be Castiel no more. For the first time in his life Castiel cries, the choice he has is impossible, the spell has not been lifted, they still found nothing.
Then the choice is made for him as a rat approaches him, there are not many rats in the bunker, but this one must have survived the traps and the poison that Sam set out to kill them. Castiel images that he actually could die, when being eaten by a rat and the beast his huge and hungry. TC sees the rodent coming, trip, trip, trip, its feet make soft noises on the floor, his whiskers move around and his nose twitches. The rat smells TC. Normally his grace keeps the Angel clean, but now he has to bathe not to get stinky. He hasn’t been able to wash for three days. Suddenly the rat jumps and is so close to Cas that he can see the sharp teeth and the rat is ready to bite and grab him with his paws. It is an epic fight to the death, Cas uses his blade to cut into the paws of the rat, it slows him down, but not much. Running for his life he ducks beneath Dean’s alarm clock, the rat jumps on the wall behind it, swishes its wormlike tail, hitting Cas of his feet, he falls on his back and the rat attacks again. With his last efforts Cas manages to lift the Angel blade into the heart of the rat just before the giant teeth sink into his head. The mouth does clamp shut, but not with the power that was meant to kill. The teeth break his skin and grace leaks out of the wounds. He doesn’t heal, the cuts don’t close.
Weakly Cas manages to crawl back into his doll bed, rolling himself into the piece of cut of sweater Dean gave him as a blanket. He sinks into oblivion, nothing anymore, no food, no water, no warmth.
Dean in the meantime is still hurt, the fever makes him wonder if it was all a dream, Castiel is still his angel, life sized and when he prays he should come. “Castiel, my feathery friend, please come to me, I’m hurt Sam and me could use your help.” For hours and hours Dean prays, while Sam feeds him water with antibiotics. “Castiel, where are you, this is serious, Dean might not make it without you,” Sam also calls out to Cas. Finally the third day without response Sam summons Rowena. She arrives the in the motel room. “Winchester boys, why didn’t you call sooner, where is Castiel?”
In the bunker Castiel stopped fading away, the prayers from Dean and Sam work for him to get a bit stronger, he is needed. The bunker door opens, Gabriel the archangel, felt a disturbance in the grace, he follows his search for a bit of grace that lingers in the bunker, he finds TC, shivering and hungry. “Cassie, brother, where are you?” Panic takes hold of Gabriel, he has lost so many brothers and sisters already. A little flash of blue from the dolls bed, Gabe sinks to his knees, Cas is not breathing the last of his grace used to let his brother find him.
Gabe picks up the tiny human form angel, his body hanging limp between his fingers. He makes a cut with his blade across his neck, lets the grace flow into Castiel, but it is not enough, he is as cold as a popsicle. Gabriel goes to the kitchen, heats a kettle with water and pours that into a cup. The lifeless body of his brother placed into it, food Gabriel thinks, honey. He drops one tiny drop of honey into Castiel’s mouth, pacing and muttering in the kitchen, hoping Cas will pull through.
In the motel room Rowena checks out Dean, he is also at the brink of death, “Sammy we need to get him to the bunker, I need to make a potion, I don’t have the ingredients here.” The drive back to the bunker takes them eight hours, eight hours in which Sam is holding Dean, putting drops of the potion Rowena was able to make into his mouth. When they arrive in the bunker Dean’s heartrate is down to ten beats a minute and his blood pressure only 20 and 60. Gabriel scares the hell out of Rowena and Sam, as he is crying so much, Cas might be dead, but there is no way for knowing for sure. Rowena isn’t even surprised seeing Cas like that when she hears about the spell. “You idiots, why didn’t you ask me, it might be too late to save them both now.” Sam begs, “Please do everything you can for them.” Rowena looks at Cas through a microscope, “He is still alive, quick, bring them both to the bedroom.” Sam and Gabriel carry Dean to his bedroom, remove his filthy blood drenched clothes and place him in his bed, very careful they put TC under his ear, blankets put on top of them, and a heat lamp.
Gabriel flies to all ends of the world to get the ingredients Rowena needs for the potion. When both potions are ready she starts the incantations, she reads it out loud for Sam, he has to do the one for Dean, Gabriel has to read the one for Castiel. Rowena pours the potions in the mouths of Dean and TC. “Nothing happens,” Sam shouts in panic, “Rowena nothing is happening.” Rowena checks a final time, “We have to leave now boys, there is naught more we can do, it’s up to them now.” For three days they wait, the only thing Rowena does is putting a single drop in the mouths of both Dean and Cas. Gabe and Sam have done nothing but pace and pull on their hair. The fourth day they hear Dean shout, “Cas get off, go sleep in your own bed.” Castiel shouts back, “I’m an ‘adult’ Dean, I sleep wherever I want and that bed is too hard and I’m too cold there alone.” Sam smiles as he thinks Cas using air quotes at the word adult. He hears Dean answer, “Fine, but don’t complain if I roll on top of you in the middle of the night by accident.” Sam opens the door, glad Cas is back and Dean sounds his normal self.